How would you change Castaway Club Levels

[Trera]

how many cruises for the next level? 25?

 

[undertheradar]

The idea that concierge is taking away from other cruisers is far fetched. Unless there is some rule somewhere that restricts who may stay in concierge, the experience is available if you are willing to pay for it.

 

[Cavs49]

Concierge has nothing to do with Castaway Club levels (unless it goes to money spent on the cruise) Concierge is also for anyone ... like the poster above stated. I could be a first time cruiser and pay for concierge. If my family wanted those benefits and they were worth it to us ... we would pay the premium and get those benefits.

 

[T & R]

They should change the tier names since Gold is worth twice as much as Platinum and has been worth more than Platinum since before the Dream class ships even came into service. It's like saying 3 is a higher number than 7, doesn't make any sense.

 

[NurseDave]

Unless, of course, they follow Princess's way of using both number of days and number of cruises to determine each level.
Gold - after 1 completed cruise
Ruby - after 4th or 5th cruise credits OR 31-50 cruise days
Platinum - after 6-15th cruise credits OR 51-150 cruise days
Elite - from 16th cruise onward OR 151+ cruise days

Whichever level you reach first (cruise credits or number of days) gets you to the next level. So you can have four 3 night cruises OR one 32 night cruise to become Ruby.

That would be interesting.

 

[toontoy]

I think cruise lines should do what hotels and airlines do, make it a tier system with achievements in a calendar period. The lifetime levels are really unsustainable. Perks should be on dollar spent. I dont think they could do this in a one year period but should have it over 3 years and after that expire. Right now disney has to many casual sailors with high level status, and thats why the status really doesnt matter

 

[T & R]

The lifetime levels are really unsustainable.

I agree with this. You have tens of thousands of Platinum cruisers who have this level because they were carted around with their parents when they were minors. My 4 kids (8yrs through 14yrs) are now Platinum for life and they are decades away from taking their family on their first DCL cruise. When they finally buy their first DCL cruise, not only will they be Platinum but their family who have never been on a DCL cruise will get Platinum privileges as well due to the policy of the highest status of a person in the same room. So this scenario multiplies and multiplies until it is unsustainable. Airlines realize this which is why you have to keep flying to maintain your status level. DCL should do the same so that you don't have so many people getting a lifetime benefit based on the accomplishments of their parents. You don't have to go crazy like airlines do but at lest say you have to cruise like once every 2 or 3 yrs to maintain your current level of CC status. It would also make good business sense for DCL to do this because you would have people book a cruise that they normally wouldn't, in order to keep their status. Kind of like people doing air mile runs on airlines toward the end of the year in order to keep their status.

 

[MichelleCanada]

I agree with this. You have tens of thousands of Platinum cruisers who have this level because they were carted around with their parents when they were minors. My 4 kids (8yrs through 14yrs) are now Platinum for life and they are decades away from taking their family on their first DCL cruise. When they finally buy their first DCL cruise, not only will they be Platinum but their family who have never been on a DCL cruise will get Platinum privileges as well due to the policy of the highest status of a person in the same room. So this scenario multiplies and multiplies until it is unsustainable. Airlines realize this which is why you have to keep flying to maintain your status level. DCL should do the same so that you don't have so many people getting a lifetime benefit based on the accomplishments of their parents. You don't have to go crazy like airlines do but at lest say you have to cruise like once every 2 or 3 yrs to maintain your current level of CC status. It would also make good business sense for DCL to do this because you would have people book a cruise that they normally wouldn't, in order to keep their status. Kind of like people doing air mile runs on airlines toward the end of the year in order to keep their status.

We have only been cruising for four years (1 cruise a year). I don’t think that I really thought about all of the second generation cruisers. Our 8 year old will be gold soon and I didn’t realize how many people are going to be gold and platinum before they are even adults! I can now see the value in having a requirement that do something to to maintain your status. Even something as simple as that you have to cruise once every 5 years or something.

 

[DCLDVC1]

I agree with this. You have tens of thousands of Platinum cruisers who have this level because they were carted around with their parents when they were minors. My 4 kids (8yrs through 14yrs) are now Platinum for life and they are decades away from taking their family on their first DCL cruise. When they finally buy their first DCL cruise, not only will they be Platinum but their family who have never been on a DCL cruise will get Platinum privileges as well due to the policy of the highest status of a person in the same room. So this scenario multiplies and multiplies until it is unsustainable. Airlines realize this which is why you have to keep flying to maintain your status level. DCL should do the same so that you don't have so many people getting a lifetime benefit based on the accomplishments of their parents. You don't have to go crazy like airlines do but at lest say you have to cruise like once every 2 or 3 yrs to maintain your current level of CC status. It would also make good business sense for DCL to do this because you would have people book a cruise that they normally wouldn't, in order to keep their status. Kind of like people doing air mile runs on airlines toward the end of the year in order to keep their status.

That's a great point. My youngest was Platinum before he started Kindergarten.

 

[Trera]

That's a great point. My youngest was Platinum before he started Kindergarten.

Well, our DD has done 21 cruises and she just turned 7, so we are in the same boat but I think your and our situation is not the norm. I would guess that most families are not taking 2 or 3 cruises a year.

I am not saying that there arent any but I would bet that is not as common as you would think.

 

[ScooterScott44]

I am not saying that there arent any but I would bet that is not as common as you would think.

Agree that 20+ cruises by grade school age many be a bit of a stretch. The issue really is that the number of platinums (10+) that are not even adults is pretty high already. Our son is only 12 and has 15 cruises under his belt. Since families tend to bring the kids along on DCL it doesn’t look to get any better.

 

[MomOTwins]

It doesn't really bother me that kids are platinum without paying for their own cruises. They are still paid passengers. If you have 3 people in a room, DCL gets paid whether parents are paying for their kid's fare, or you have three adult friends sharing a room and each paying their own way?

 

[Lisa Skier]

I haven't used my free meal the last few cruises so not worried about that. The only perk that I appreciate is getting on board at my leisure. I usually donate the sling bag at this point. I bring home the candy to my cat sitter. I have been trying to reach that 75th day on Carnival the last couple of months because you get the same, board at your leisure privilege other then that I don't worry. Have 16 Disney cruises under my belt (at least 12 of them were 7 days) was going to have 17 and 18 this year but hurricanes and deployments are making sure that doesn't happen :_

 

[FWRR3]

Interested to see the lanyard for the proposed "Diamond" level. Sold by Tiffany?

 

[ScooterScott44]

It doesn't really bother me that kids are platinum without paying for their own cruises. They are still paid passengers. If you have 3 people in a room, DCL gets paid whether parents are paying for their kid's fare, or you have three adult friends sharing a room and each paying their own way?

There is no issue with who pays for the cruises, the issue is that the combo of lifetime status with family cruising, means that it increases the number of top tier people in the Castaway Club. As a parent, we had the advantage of getting platinum status before perks started decreasing.

The next generation of cruisers will likely see further decreases in perks. One example is that they are much less likely to get to interact with Senior staff at the gold/platinum reception. Not only was it was changed from seven day cruises to longer cruises, but it routinely has moved to the Walt Disney theater from a lounge where you could actually talk to people.

 

[MomOTwins]

There is no issue with who pays for the cruises, the issue is that the combo of lifetime status with family cruising, means that it increases the number of top tier people in the Castaway Club. As a parent, we had the advantage of getting platinum status before perks started decreasing.

The next generation of cruisers will likely see further decreases in perks. One example is that they are much less likely to get to interact with Senior staff at the gold/platinum reception. Not only was it was changed from seven day cruises to longer cruises, but it routinely has moved to the Walt Disney theater from a lounge where you could actually talk to people.

Totally agree on all fronts except that it is lifetime status—they can change the tiers and benefits at any point in out lifetimes if it becomes too top heavy. I guess my point was just that I don’t see a reason kids cs adults should make a difference regardless of where they slice the tiers.

 

[FigmentSpark]

The problem is, if you have a time limit on the status, people who miss out on re-upping might just look at it as an opportunity to either quit sailing or move to another company. They don't feel any 'love' from the company and they no longer have the status they are used to.

The other side is if you keep giving more and more levels to people, you have new customers that look at that and feel like they could never qualify to reach that level, so now you've diluted the value of your program from that end, too.

There has to be a balance to keep returnees returning and new customers enticed into buying again. And it might be that what DCL offers right now is that sweet spot.

 

[T & R]

if you have a time limit on the status, people who miss out on re-upping might just look at it as an opportunity to either quit sailing or move to another company. They don't feel any 'love' from the company

Airlines have figured out the right way to do it. Now cruising is a different animal so it doesn't have to be that extreme like so many cruises per year. Setting a rule that you have to take a cruise at least every 2 or 5 yrs or whatever, would not be unreasonable. The showing love thing goes both ways. Let's face it, if you lose your status cuz you haven't sailed in 5 yrs, it's not the company not showing you love, it's you not showing the company love.

 

[WebmasterPete]

I'm not sure they would base it on # of nights vs # of cruises.

On a cost per night, the 3 and 4 night cruises are actually more expensive than the longer cruises, so they make more money on the 3 & 4 night cruises. They'd rather you take a 3 night plus a 4 night over just a 7 night cruise.

DCL may not take this into consideration, but is the rewards program better if it's based on how much you spend vs how many times you spend it? Disney is already pushing towards the higher end of travelers.

Marriott rewards bases their's off # of nights, not the place you stayed or the amount you paid for that stay. Yes, you get more points the more you spend, but the levels are based on the # of nights. I think most travel reward programs are done this way.

I disagree. While the actual stateroom price-per-night may be higher on those cruises, the revenue the cruises generate increase dramatically the longer they are. Remember, the stateroom is only part of what you pay for a vacation - excursions, spa, drinks, merchandise etc are among the highest profit margins for the cruise.

 

[WebmasterPete]

I doubt Disney will do anything. They really have no need to try to attract repeat cruisers as they are doing very well as is.

Not right now they're not. Covid-19 has been a massive body blow to DCL. They are going to have to rely heavily on FL residents and Castaway Club to reboot the product once sailings start up again.